The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-12-03
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
WHAT THE MERCANTILE AGENCY
RECORDS SHOW.


Statistics Which Measure the Business
of the Countrywide Operation of
the Agency System-The Banking
Capital Of Some OF the Great Cities.
Business is at best hazard. but just how
hazardous a thing it is was never known
until mercantile agencies sprung into exist
ence and the records ON which few successes
and many failures are recorded began to be
kept. These records show many curious
characteristics of the business world, and
while on the ono hand they set forth the
enormous amounts of money piled up or
actively engaged in increasing themselves,
on the other they show in figures equally
plain the thousands of names that are but n
simple record of long and many stories of
failures.
The many failures which were the result
OF the ignorance of the merchants of the
standing of their customers resulted in the
establishment of mercantile agencies, and
though they have grown to an enormous
size but few people seem to understand what
an available adjunct to commerce the mer-
camille agency is By its assistance the
large dealers in New York. New Orleans,
Savannah, Baltimore, and other principal
to the smaller merchants in the cities and
interior towns of distant States with COM
parative safety to themselves, and without
the delay incident to special inquiries,
through individual agents or commercial
friends, by which important sales might be
| jeopardized or lost.
By way of illustration: A merchant re-
| ceives an order for bill of goods He turns
| at once to the reference Book provided
by the agency, and ascertains the apparent
standing Of the applicant If the amount of
the order is reasonable, the sale may be con-
summated at once, but if it seems
disproportionate to the rating, or
is attended with any suspicious cir
cumstances, a messenger is despatched
forthwith to the local office, or the in
quiry is telegraphed direct to the agency
nearest to the applicants place of business,
and literally, with lightning speed, comes
| back full and detailed report of the bust
ness standing, habits and general character
| of the party concerning whom the inquiry
is made, together with a carefully COM
puted estimate of his available assets,
AIDS TO BUSINESS.
Upon the facts thus collected and pre-
| sented, the jobber is enabled to decide in
stantly upon the question of credit, and ex-
tend or refuse it, as the facts in the case
may warrant. The two great mercantile
/ VI.
Co. and Bradstreet's, both of which are
represented in Savannah. The agency of
r. G. Dun & Co. is the largest institution
of this character in the world Itwas estab-
lished in the city of New York in 1S41,
and has increased in strength
until it has become the largest private
partnership in existence, having a business
the scope and extent of which has never
before been exercised by single firm. 1t
has local offices established in every city of
importance, not alone in the United States,
but i'll Canada, Europe and Austria
| liza, while its corps of correspon-
dents, over 10000 in number, permeate
every hamlet throughout the length and
breadth of the land and its agents traverse,
two or three times each year, nearly every
| fOoUpath throughout the United States.
These diversified forces all work as parts of
one complete system, with well-defined
rules and regulations, whereby information
is collated, systematized, assimilated and
rendered available to its patrons in all parts
of the world.
| GLANCE AT THE RECORDS.
The records of the firm are pregnant with
interesting facts and figures. not of COM
mercial history alone, but illustrating the
rise and fall of cities, communities and in
dividuals. Some are found mounting upon
the pinnacle of affiuence and splendor.
to fall amid the contending forces. Most of
those who thus fall, fall like Lucifer, never
to rise again, and their names disappear
forever from the pages of the record. A
few, very few, are shown to have risen,
Ph9nix-like, from the ashes of their great
ness and attained an altitude of business
prosperity never before equaled by them.
1t is astonishing to see the records con-
tanning the business history of the United
States for even a short period of time, but
in order to get some idea of what the
reference books of the Mercantile Agency
may tell, Mr. Charles o. Drummond,
representative of Dun & Co. in Savannah,
was asked in regard to the matter. He was
not at all inclined to communicativeness at
first, but being assured that the desire was
only to publish general statistics, and not to
dive into the financial affairs of individual
firms he spoke more freely of the business
of the firm and the results of its operations,
and from him were obtained the following
statements:
THE FIRMS IN THE COUNTRY.
The number of persons or firms, counting
the latter as single individuals, do
ing business in the United States on Oct.
81, 1887, was 1,0S2, IA.
The new names added to the list during
the year ending on that date number 1885,
PAT.
The names stricken off during the same
period on account of death, failure or other
causes numbered $3.50, showing net in
crease for the year of 20, 86S.
The changes in rating, i. e., in business
standing, during the same period were
95, 3l2 and the changes in style or in firm
name were Sc, 846
An analysis of the register also shows the
interesting fact that about 20 per cent. of
those who engage in mercantile pursuits
fail. In addition to the mercantile reports
and ratings, the agency's books contain a
classified list of State, national and private
banking houses in the United States and
Canada. This department by itself occu-
pies sixty-four closely printed pages, aver
aging Johannes, thus giving the enormous
total of 1920, representing capital be-
side which the national debt at the close of
the war appears insignificant. 1t is impossi-
BILE to give, within the limits of single
article, any statistics beyond the merest
outline, but few of the large cities are
taken as specimen bricks.
New York City-State and National
banks So; capital employed, exclusive of
private banks, about $f70,000, 900 Savings
banks, %; amount of deposits, $3.50, 64S, 142
San Francisco-State and National banks,
"a; capital employed, exclusive of private
ba,,lyc S7O 900 0n0